clark



' L. n. CLARK.

TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1919.

Pafiented N 0V. 11, 1919.

.5 W WJQ M vi E m E m M I TTORNEYJ,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEON n. CLARK, or AVANT, OKLAHOMA.

TOOL.

Application filed April 14, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEON D. CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Avant, in the county of Osage and State of Oklahoma, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tools; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to a wrench of the plier pipe,. and aimsto provide a novel and improved implement of that character providing acombination pipe pliers, wrench and wire cutter.

7 It is the object of the invention to provide such an implementembodying two handles or levers, one having a head provided with a fixedjaw, and the other being pivoted and operatively connected with aslidable jaw carried by the head, the arrangement and relation of thecomponent elements being such that the jaws will be forcibly movedtoward one another when the handles or levers are grasped by the handand swung toward one another, and means being provided whereby themovable or slidable jaw can be released for purpose of adjustmentrelative to the fixed jaw, so that the jaws can be set differentdistances apart in a convenient and simple manner, for operation bythe'levers or handles.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, it beingunderstood that changes can be made within the scope of what is claimedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure1 is a side elevation of the tool, portions being broken away and shownin section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the wirecutter.

The tool is provided with levers or handles 1 and 2 of a suitable shapeto be grasped by the hand, and the outer end of the lever 1 has a head 3provided with a recess 4: into which the outer end of the lever 2extends, and the lever 2 is pivoted within the head Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 11," 1919.

Serial No. 289,904. r

3, as at 5. A leaf spring 6 secured to the lever 2 bears against thelever 1 or its head 3, to separate said levers.

The head 3 is provided at its outer por-' tion with a transverse guide 7arranged at substantially right angles withthe lever 1 and the head hasa T-shaped groove '8 extending along said guide, and at one end of theguide,the head 3 has a fixed jaw 9 extending outwardly therefrom. I Amovable or slidable jaw 10 is movable along the guide 7 toward and awayfrom the jaw 9, and is carried by a shank or rack 11 of T-shaped crosssection sliding in the groove 8. The head 3 with the jaws 9 and 10 areof substantially circular outline when the jaws are separated a. certaindistance. The shank or rack 11 is provided with .a longitudinal seriesof rack teeth 12 at its inner side, and the outer end of the lever 2 isprovided beyond the pivot 5 with gear teeth or a segment 13 meshing withthe teeth 12, whereby the swinging movement of the lever 2 toward andaway from the lever 1 will slide the jaw 10 toward and away from the jaw9 for closing and opening the aws. 1

The adjacent or confronting faces of the jaws can be toothed, as; at 14,for gripping pipes or other circular objects, and the jaws are providedattheir imier or basal ends with transverse grooves 15 for receiving awire, there being cutting knives or blades 16 at certain ends of thegrooves 15 at one side of the jaws, for cutting the wire, so that thetool can be used as a wire cutter, as Well as a wrench and pipe pliers.

The arrangement is such, that when the lever 2 is swung to the extremelimit away from the lever l, the segment or teeth 13 are movedsufiiciently away from the rack 11, to permit said rack to slide,thereby releasing the jaw 10 so that it can he slid back and forth. Inthis way, the jaw 10 can be released and set to a new position, so thatwhen the lever 2 is again swung toward the lever 1, the jaws will be ina different relatively spaced relation. This permits the jaws to be setfor different sizes of objects.

In order to prevent the accidental release of the jaw 10, a piece orstrip 17 is slidable along the side of the lever 2 opposite the lever 1,and is held in place by headed studs 18 carried by the lever 2, saidpiece 17 havin a slot 19 receiving said studs. The piece 1 can thus beslid longitudinally, and when slid outwardly, its outer end will contactwith the portion 20 of the head 3, thus limiting the separation of thelevers 1 and 2, and preventing the teeth 13; y from being completelydisengaged from the rack teeth 12;

\Vhen adjustment of the jaws is desired, the piece or stop 17 is slidinwardly to withdraw the outer end thereof from the recess 4, therebypermitting the lever 2 to be swung sufliciently to release the jaw 10.

The long arm of the lever 2 forming the handle, while the short arm isengaged with the rack 11 of the movable jaw 10, provides a powerfulpurchase in order that the levers when tightly grasped by the hand willcause the jaws to firmly grip and hold the nut, pipe or other objecttherebetween.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is l. A toolembodying pivotally connected levers, one having a head with a fixedjaw, a rack slidable in said head and carrying a movable jaw, the otherlever having teeth meshing with said rack, said teeth being adapted tomove outof engagement with the rack when the levers are swung apart acertain distance, thereby releasing said rack, and means operable afterthe levers are swung apart and before they are separated sufliciently todisengage said teeth from the rack for limiting such movement of thelevers so as to'prevent the releasing of the rack, said means beingoperable to enable the levers to be swung apart beyond said limit torelease said rack.

2. A tool embodying pivotally connected levers, one having a headprovided with a fixed jaw, a rack slidable in said head and carrying amovable jaw, the other lever having teeth meshing with said rack andswing- Gopies ot this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by

able out of engagement therewith, and movable means between the head andsecond named lever operable to limit the movement of said lever toprevent the disengagement 0f the teeth thereof from said rack andoperable to permit such disengagement.

3. A tool embodying pivotally connected levers, one having a headprovided with a fixed jaw, a rack slidable in the head and carrying amovable jaw, the other lever having teeth meshing with said rack andswingable out of engagement therewith, and a stop carried by the secondnamed lever and movable to a position to contact with the head and limitthe movement of said lever to prevent the disengagement of its teethfrom said rack.

a. A tool embodying a lever having ahead provided with a recess, atransverse guide and groove, and a fixed aw projecting outwardly fromone end of the head, a rack slidable in said groove and having a movablejaw slida'ble along said guide, a second lever projecting within saidrecess and pivoted within said head, thesecond lever having teethmeshing with said rack and swingable out of engagement therewith whenthe levers are swung apart sufficiently, and a stop slidably carried bythe second lever and movable to a position to contact with the head andlimit the separation of said levers to prevent the disengagement of saidteeth and rack.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEON D. CLARK.

itnesses J. N. STANSBURY, H. TAMAGE.

addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, Q C."

